Science Education Idea Exchange

 I have been working on the NGSS standards for middle school on Earth's Systems and have almost finished! Here's what I have been putting together so far: MS-ESS2-2: Weathering and Erosion Shores (Geologic Processes) In this activity, students examine the geologic process of weathering and erosion on a beach. They model two types of weathering, research, and sort cards on types of weathering to determine rates of geological processes. The final piece is a CER over whether this process is rapid or gradual. MS-ESS2-3: Pangea Puzzle, Fossils, and Plate Movement Activity Students will examine plate movement since Pangea using the placement of fossils and the shape of landmasses. First, they will attempt to piece together Pangea. With research, they will make predictions and draw the placement of current plate boundaries and plate tectonics. A claim-evidence-reasoning is used to assess understanding of the objective. MS-ESS2-4: Mini-Water Cycle Activity Students build and draw model...

With the holidays, more time was spent with family, but the first MS-ESS2 activity is active, and the next is underway. Over two class periods, students learn about the movement of salt on Earth's surface. They start with a small demonstration of saltwater evaporation, complete research on the cycle, and create a model. The final assessment is a CER over how salt moves from one location to another.

Photo by Julia Maior on Unsplash A few years back, I took a class from the University of Lincoln put on by the Groundwater Foundation . One of the presenters introduced us to her crumpled paper activity. Sadly, I don't remember the specifics but I will outline what I remember below. This activity provides a neat explanation of runoff. Materials: washable markers spray bottle with water paper Procedure:  In a small group, crumple a piece of paper. Color various regions on the crumpled paper:  city dump- red neighborhood that uses fertilizers  (etc) Take the spray bottle and saturate the paper so the markers run. Discuss observations: how does runoff lead to pollution of rivers and groundwater?